Lyme Disease and How the Immune System Responds - Research Paper Example

Lyme disease and How the Immune System Responds Introduction Lyme’s disease also known as Lyme borreliosis is an infectious disease. It is caused by a bacteria belonging to the genus BORELIA, a gram negative spirochete…

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Early symptoms are then further divided into localized which usually include a characteristic circular rash, fever, malaise and flu like symptoms. The symptoms of early disseminated infection are mainly due to the spread of the bacteria in the blood stream in two to three days after the initial infection and include dizziness, migrating pain in the muscles, palpitations, neuroborreliosis and infections of the lymph nodes. The disease could also lead to many cardiac anomalies like atrioventricular block. The disease if not treated properly or left untreated could lead to its persistent chronic form. The major parts of the body that are usually affected by this late, chronic form of the disease are eyes, brain and heart. Extreme cases of the disease may also lead to paraplegias. Pathogenesis The pathogenic organism is present in the saliva of the ticks and transferred to the blood stream while the ticks are feeding on the human blood. The tick’s saliva protects the organism and allows it to invade the dermis while avoiding the initial protective system of the human body. After invasion, an inflammatory response develops against the organism which is usually is the cause of its characteristics initial lesions. Neutorphils however fail to invade the site of infection, enabling the bacteria to survive linger at the site of infection. ...
RESPONSE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM Innate Immunity Innate immune response is usually the body’s first and immediate response to any foreign antigen; in this case the bacteria (Borrelia). The cells usually involved in providing the innate immunity are called as the natural killer cells which include neutrophils, dendritic cells, monocytes and granulocytes. However in Lyme’s disease neutrophils usually fail to invade the site of infection which allows the organism to survive for a longer duration. In the absence of neutorphills, the dendritic cells acquire a primary role of killing the pathogen. The dendritic cells engulf the bacteria by the process of phagocytosis. After the bacterium is phagocytosed, it is either killed by lysosomal enzymes or by the production of toxic substances e.g. Nitric Oxide, that degrade bacterial cell membrane leading to its death (Dietrich and Hartung 2001). Dendritic cells having acquired this primary role of killing the cells perform many other functions too in the early manifestation of the infection. The dendritic cells cause the release of several mediators e.g. IL8, 12 and 1 as well as TNF alpha. All these mediators released by dendritic cells play an important role in the early defenses against the disease as well as development of the acquired immunity. Complement system Apart from the innate response that is directly involved in the killing of foreign pathogens, one important aspect of immunity against borrelia infection is the activation of the complement system. The complement system is a complex of 20 proteins which are activated by the antigen antibody complexes. Functions of the complement system involves: activation of specific immune mechanisms e.g. release of certain chemical mediators, direct
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The disease is spread through the bite of deer ticks, Inxodes scapularies, which feed on the blood of humans and animals (Mayo Staff clinic, 2005). Lyme disease was first identified in 1975 by Dr. Allen Steere after an out break of rheumatoid arthritis in Lyme, Connecticut (Todar, n.d).

It is significant to note that the response is not specific in nature and does not target specific pathogens. In the first response, the IgM will be responsible for the detoxification of the pathogen by the antibodies. IgM is efficient after the initial attack by the pathogen.

The author of the essay casts light upon the nature of Lyme disease. Reportedly, the first Lyme disease occurrence was in a city in the United States known as Old Lyme, Connecticut, in the year 1975. It is known, most incidences of infectivity of the disease in the US are prevalent in West Coast, particularly in the northern areas of California, Northeastern states,

The proposed methods are feedback and control mechanisms, statistical analysis techniques and customer satisfaction surveys. These techniques provide a means for analyzing and improving control systems, for measuring the efficiency with which feedback information is used, and for determining the costs of system response time in terms of computers (Bearden et al 2004).

Human body has the tendency to cope with traumas and unusual or unwanted circumstances. Human body systems which are able to manage the emergency situations and traumas are activated as soon as the unusual circumstances are observed, however, the defense mechanisms start breaking down if the situation prolong for longer time periods.

Types of cancer There are basically 5 types of cancers: carcinoma, sarcoma, lymphomas and leukemias, germ cell tumor and blastoma. Carcinomas are cancers that are derived from the epithelial cells. Cancers of the breast, lung, prostate, colon and pancreas fall into this category.

The researchers realized that most of these children stayed near wooded regions that were likely to shelter ticks. They also discovered that typically, the first symptoms in the children began in the months of summer, which coincided with the tick season (Webmd.com, 2005). Etiology In the year 1981, researchers discovered that a Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium, which is found in black-legged ticks, was Lyme disease’s etiologic agent (Bacon, et al., 2008).

Lyme disease has been identified as the most common vector-borne disease in the state of America and the incidence of this disease is increasing with every year. In 2003, 21,273 cases were estimated in 45 different districts of U.S. It was also observed that 10% increase in incidence occurred in Columbia as compared to the records of the year 2002 (McPhee et al 2007; Colledge et al 2010).

One of the profound changes is in the immune system. The immune system, which is responsible for protecting the boy against infection and diseases, becomes less effective with age. The body is vulnerable to infections and diseases. The vulnerability of the immune system in old age is increased by stress.

The structure of viruses has particles called virions and is constructed with helical symmetry containing only one protein or very few proteins (Strauss & Strauss, 36). Viruses that are simple and regular in structure often crystallize which have made them suitable for X-ray diffraction.

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